A Church-PAC Link Raises Questions in Mississippi

The full-page advertisement in Mississippi Link, a weekly newspaper aimed at black residents of Jackson, the state’s capital, urged readers to vote for Senator Thad Cochran in the June 3 Republican primary.

If church resources were used by the PAC, that could be “potentially problematic” for the church, said Michael Toner, a partner at the Wiley Rein law firm and a former F.E.C. chairman. “The people who are associated with churches, you can be involved in politics, but need to do so in your personal capacity. That’s the dividing line: Is it in their personal capacity?”

The danger for the church is that it, like other I.R.S.-approved charities, could lose its tax status if it participates in a political campaign, whether for or against a candidate. The advertisement appears to have appeared around the same time the group’s F.E.C. registration form was filled out, but the PAC has not filed an independent expenditure report describing the expenditure or any reports listing its donors. An email and a phone call to Ms. Vann at the church’s offices were not immediately returned.

Image

All Citizens for Mississippi's registration form with the Federal Election Commission.

The ad, with a big picture of a smiling Mr. Cochran, asked Democrats to vote for him. It cited the senator as having received praise from Democrats and Republicans alike for providing more than $18 million to Mississippi’s historically black colleges and universities.

“The decision on who is going to be our next senator is going to be made in the republican primary,” the text at the bottom of the ad reads, keeping the names of the political parties in lowercase. “We’re asking democrats to cross over and vote in the republican primary to ensure our community’s interest is heard.”